Court artist's impression of Ben Kinsella's murderers: (l to r) Jade Braithwaite, 20, Michael Alleyne, 18 and Juress Kika, 19. Photograph: Elizabeth Cook/PA
Saturday 28th June 2008, 16 year old Ben Kinsella was at a birthday party, a party that was also to celebrate the end of his GCSE exams.
Sunday 29th June 2008, Ben was stabbed multiple times after being chased down a street following a fight he was not involved in at the Shillibeers pub and nightclub in York Way, Islington, around 2am Sunday morning. He died a few hours later in hospital. His parent were by his side after driving up from the south coast where they were on holiday.
A post mortem revealed that Ben died of multiple stab wounds.
Thursday 3rd July 2008, The three people arrested over Ben's killing have now been charged.
Juress Kika, 18, Michael Alleyne, 18, and Jade Braithwaite, 19, from London, pleaded not guilty to murder. A secret tape recording of the three young men of Ben Kinsella's murder concocting false alibis became a crucial piece of evidence for the prosecution.
Although all three were well-known to police, and both Michael Alleyne and Jade Braithwaite's names had been mentioned within hours of the attack, it was only when they were recorded discussing the killing in the back of a police car with their co-defendant, Juress Kika, that their guilt became clear.
Up to that point and during the trial, each blamed the other for the fatal stabbing. The recording showed they were in on it together.
They were taped "fixing up a story", Nicholas Hilliard QC told the Old Bailey in London. In extracts played to the jury, the three men discussed alibis, potential witnesses, CCTV evidence and getting rid of their mobile phones.
Alleyne, known as Tigger or T, seemed to describe how he took part in the knife attack before reassuring his friends that evidence had been disposed of. Braithwaite, who was involved in a dispute with one of Ben's friends shortly before the murder, asked his co-defendants to say he was not with them that night.
Alleyne was later to insist that he was at his "yard" asleep at the time, even though his father told police he had gone out.Hilliard told the jury: "Braithwaite is saying, I wasn't with T, I was somewhere else, T will say he was at his yard and his dad has got it wrong.
"That's what this is all about, this is fixing up a story to get away with murder. There is no falling out or blaming each other, nothing like that. They are getting their story straight."
Alleyne, a heavy cannabis smoker, fell out with his father after he spoke to police.Michael Alleyne Snr at first admitted that his son came back at about 2.30am on the night of the murder.Under pressure, he later claimed that the teenager was at home all night.
Alleyne sent a threatening letter to his cousin Kellie after she told police he and Kika confessed to the stabbing. Alleyne and Kika were arrested at Kellie's home in Chadwell Heath, Essex, two days after the murder.
The letter read: "To Slag aka snitch, You are a let down to the family. You are not my cousin, believe that. How are you gonna give my letters to the Boyden [police] and be snitching on me? You are not real at all. When will I see you? Your mum's still on road, so be careful how you move. "You don't know how I move on road. I'm a boss. People in North no who I am. Fuck that. When the shit hits the fan, you snitch. I don't need to tell you anything before you tell Boyden, you snitch. I don't know who the fuck you are, you don't try to keep me out of jail. I'm a real nigga and you ask your dad about me, he's seen things.
"You all best hope I don't bust case because people will be in trouble and you will never snitch on anyone again, I promise you that. Say no more, I am ghost [disappeared]. I ain't got time to rite to snitches, family that's not real. I got your statements, everyone will see Kellie is a snitch. You see, snitches get touched. You see blood, Tottenham ride or die. All the family know you are a snitch so if I get found guilty it's down to you."
Thursday 11th June 2009,
Juress Kika, 19, Jade Braithwaite, 18, and Michael Alleyne, 20, were convicted by a jury at the Old Bailey.
After the verdicts, it emerged Kika had been on the run from police for 10 days following a robbery in which a man was knifed on June 19.
Friday 12th June 2009, All three were sentenced to life in prison.
